Everybody Thought Wrong
by hollyg20
Summary: Whew...you can cut the tension with a knife! Ron, Harry, and Hermione have issues to deal with in this chapter...speaking of, Chapter 13 is finally up and running! Please read and review!
1. Harry's Departure

**Harry's Departure**

Harry groaned as he was jolted out of sleep by the sounds of somebody (Dudley, no doubt) banging on his door repeatedly. He had been having the most wonderful dream and now because of being awoken so suddenly couldn't remember any of it, other than the fact that he felt deliriously happy. He thought he remembered seeing a girl, though he couldn't imagine who the girl could be - he certainly wasn't still dreaming about Cho Chang. He sighed, realizing that trying to relive the dream was a lost cause, put on his glasses and dragged himself out of bed.

It was the last two weeks of vacation before his 6th year at Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was to begin. He figured he would be able to leave the Dursley's soon (Mrs. Weasley had told him they would get him away from the Dursley's house as soon as they could this summer, and Ron had just written to invite him) and that thought cheered him considerably, although not much could anymore.

Harry finished packing his things into his trunk, made sure he collected everything from under the loose floorboard, gathered Hedwig's cage and made his way down the stairs. He didn't know what Uncle Vernon would have to say about him using floo powder in the fireplace to get to the Weasley's, but since he wouldn't have to see him for a whole year he didn't suppose it mattered much.

"Er - so, I'll be leaving now," Harry announced to the room at large, while Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia stared at him and his baggage. They never seemed to get over the fact that he was, indeed, a wizard, and as a result had everything that came with it. Then again, they never really intended for him to find out, so their incredulity was understandable.

"I hope those - Weatherby's, did you call them? - arrive in a more suitable fashion than they did 2 years ago, for I won't have the neighbors making a fuss," Uncle Vernon growled. This statement in itself caused Harry to smile as he remembered Mr. Weasley, Fred, George and Ron stuck in the Dursley's chimney. However, he knew Uncle Vernon had never bothered to seal the chimney up the way it was before, so he would be able to travel through the floo network.

"No, actually," Harry replied (not without a smirk on his face), "I'll be traveling alone this time."

With that, he stepped into the fireplace, shifted Hedwig's cage so he could grasp a handful of floo powder, shouted, "The Burrow!", and threw his floo powder onto the fireplace floor. He didn't miss the look of shock on the Dursley's faces as he disappeared into the green flames, and he was chuckling when he reached Ron's.


	2. Harry's Arrival

**Harry's Arrival**

"Harry! Good to see you, mate!" cried Ron. Harry grinned when he caught sight of him. Ron had managed to grow another 4 inches over the summer, and it actually seemed as though his hair had gotten even redder.

"All right, Ron," Harry replied. Only, half of his reply was muffled, as Mrs. Weasley walked into the room and smothered him with a hug. As she pulled away, Harry was, as always, blushing beet red but secretly pleased that she considered him to be one of the family.

"We've been expecting you, Harry, dear. Now, why don't you go put your things up in Ron's room, and I should think you'll want to see Hermione…she's up in Ginny's room. You can stop on your way back down for a spot of breakfast," she said as she beamed at him.

Harry wasn't quite sure why, but at the mention of Hermione his heart did a little flip flop. It seemed ridiculous, but it was the same thing that used to happen whenever he was around Cho.

"Thanks, Mrs. Weasley. It's good to see you. I'll be right back down," Harry said as he started up the stairs.

He dropped his stuff in Ron's room, gave Hedwig some fresh water, and started heading towards Ginny's room. He went to push open the door, but he heard whispering behind it. He didn't want to disturb the girls or frighten them, so he knocked even though it was slightly ajar. There was an abrupt end to the whispers, followed by a shriek he knew all too well.

"Harry!" Hermione squealed, "We've been waiting and waiting for you. We didn't know if you'd still want to come round after - well, ah, I'm just _so_ glad to see you!"

Harry was shocked. His first thought was, _this is NOT Hermione_, immediately followed by, _of course it is you idiot, say something!_ The way Hermione looked at the Yule Ball in their 4th year that made him look at her twice was the way she looked now at the Burrow. Of course, what Harry didn't know what that Hermione had gone through great pains to find the proper outfit and hairstyle since she knew he was coming. She was wearing cutoff jean shorts, a black camisole (he wondered if it felt as soft as it looked), and her hair was in a long _smooth_ ponytail - _she must have mastered that hair straightening spell, after all, _he thought.

" 'Mione!" he exclaimed, and allowed himself to be enveloped in her arms. He didn't want to get too alarmed, but he did notice the same nervous sensation at her touch that he did when she was mentioned downstairs.

"Harry, I'm glad you're here," said Ginny. "Let's go downstairs…I'm sure my mum is just waiting to feed you!"

"As a matter of fact, she's making me breakfast right now," replied Harry with a sheepish grin.

The three of them started down the stairs as Harry thought, _it's so good to be back. I haven't felt this happy in months!_


	3. Harry's Realization

First of all, I'd like to say thank you to the people who have read this...a few friends and only one person on here that has reviewed :( I will keep writing for you though, Anna! Hopefully you continue to enjoy it! Secondly, I know that it's very common for Arthur Weasley to be the Minister...but I DON'T CARE! It's MY story and I can do that if I want! (I'm sorry...didn't mean to shout, but that would make me happy, not that it will ever happen). Anyhow, sorry for the short rant...please enjoy :)!

**Harry's Realization**

Harry spent most of breakfast staring at Hermione, which everyone but him seemed to notice. Ron and Ginny just grinned at each other, and Mrs.Weasley wondered what was going on.

"Arthur was so sorry he couldn't be here for your arrival, Harry, dear, but there was some rather serious business at the office he had to attend to," Mrs. Weasley explained. "He's been rather busy at the Ministry lately, what with being elected Minister and all, and Percy's been trying to keep up as his assistant," she said with a notable amount of pride in her voice.

Harry recalled the paper clipping from the Daily Prophet Ron had sent him about a month earlier depicting the ceremony, and had especially relished Lucius Malfoy's expression in the crowd as he watched. The only regret Harry had was not being able to be there for it.

"Yeah," piped in Ron, "Fred and George are sorry they aren't here too, but they're way too busy with Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes to take any time off. They said if you don't stop in on our first Hogsmeade trip to say hello, they'll test out all their new Skiving Snackboxes on you!"

Harry remembered the Snackboxes' rough drafts all too well (the nosebleeds that didn't end and so forth) and made up his mind that the twin's store would be the _first_ place he would go in Hogsmeade.

"Maybe we could all go together," suggested Hermione. "It seems like it's been such a long time since we last saw one another, and I think we could all do with a little fun." She chose that moment to smile at Harry, and he suddenly felt his heart would rip through his shirt it was pounding so hard.

He was glad when Mrs. Weasley declared breakfast was over, and the girls got up to help her clear the table. When Hermione walked out with their empty plates and Harry felt both relieved and disappointed, what had been bothering him since arriving at the Burrow finally hit him! Harry didn't know what had come over him, but he was pretty sure that somehow, he had managed to fall for Hermione. Hermione! His best friend, the one he could talk to like no other person, and the girl who Harry also suspected was the object of his _other_ best friend's affections, though Ron would never admit it.

He needed to talk to Ron.


	4. Just Thought You Should Know Part 1

First of all...many thanks to those of you reading (I know there are some that aren't reviewing cuz they aren't members...just my friends).

Monkey and Crow, thank you so much for reviewing...sometimes I think no one is reading this, but then I get an email that says I got a review and it's always so exciting! Thanks again!

Without further ado, here is Chapter 4...hope you enjoy! :)

**Just Thought You Should Know Part 1**

"Er - Ron, I was wondering if maybe we could have a talk?" Harry asked a little later as they played Wizard's Chess. Well, actually Ron was playing. Harry was no good at Wizard's Chess even when he wasn't trying to figure out how to tell his opponent he wanted to pursue the girl Harry suspected him of fancying. _Wait a minute,_ Harry thought, _how did I already get to the stage where I want to pursue her? How do I know she WANTS to be pursued?!_ He sighed…this was going to be much more difficult than he had even imagined - and even worse, he had to talk to Ron about something other than quidditch, school, and Voldemort's latest attacks.

"Sure, mate," replied Ron, as his queen viciously attacked one of Harry's knights. "About what?"

Harry gulped. He still had visions of his knight being smashed to bits and was wondering if Ron would soon be planning to do the same thing to his face. He felt himself break out into a cold sweat, but knew he should just get it over with.

"It's actually about, well - uh, it's actually about Hermione," Harry replied.

"What about her?" Ron asked. "She's just as mental as ever, isn't she? Can you imagine - she actually asked me if I would be the _Vice President_ of S.P.E.W.! Says I have people skills when I want to and could be an asset to getting support. Honestly, I don't know what goes through that head of hers sometimes…" Ron trailed off, making Harry feel more uncomfortable than ever. He had the sneaking suspicion the last couple of years that Ron's criticisms of Hermione's character and their constant bickering was nothing more than an elaborate cover up for his true feelings.

"Well, er, I was…actuallysortakindathinkinthatImightkindalike'er," Harry got out. He winced waiting for the worst, he actually shut his eyes! He had faced Voldemort, the most powerful dark wizard alive, 5 times by now and was _scared_ of what Ron Weasley was going to do to him.

To his great surprise, Ron just started laughing harder than Harry had ever heard him laugh before. One by one, Harry opened his eyes and slowly unclenched his fists, as he tried to figure out just what was going on. "Ron? Are you okay? Because you seem a little…well, a little nutters," Harry said tentatively.

"I'm sorry!" Ron guffawed, "But you - you don't know, how _long_ I've been waiting for you to tell me that!" He tried to calm his hysterics and catch his breath, but one look at Harry's face set him off again.

After Harry's initial shock, _waiting for me to tell him?!_, he felt a huge burden being lifted off his shoulders. "What do you mean, waiting for me to tell you? I just figured it out myself this morning!" Harry sputtered.

"Well, I figured it was only a matter of time before you realized what everyone else already knew," said Ron, who had calmed himself considerably when he saw what a state Harry had worked himself up into. "Everyone except Hermione herself, I'm pretty sure, if that's what you're worried about."

"Actually, it -er, I sort of thought that maybe, you, you know, fancied Hermione," Harry boldly put across.

Ron looked at him as if he'd grown a third eye, and Harry felt rather stupid for bringing that up in the first place. "Have you gone _completely_ mad?!" Ron yelled, then quieted his voice for what came next, which was, "We would absolutely drive each other mental. Have you ever _heard_ us fight?"

Harry supposed he had been rather silly, but Ron and Hermione had been the subject of speculation ever since, well, the Yule Ball, he supposed. The way Ron got so jealous…

"Well, what did you go and get go jealous of Krum for then, if you didn't fancy her?" Harry questioned.

Ron rolled his eyes and replied, "I figured eventually you'd come out of that Cho Chang thing, and all of us knew you and Hermione should be together…anyway, I wasn't jealous, I was angry because she liked _you_ and was there with him!"

"Hold on…" Harry said, as the truth dawned upon him, "What do you mean, she _liked_ me? She liked me then?! Does she still like me?" He suddenly felt as though the entire universe depended upon Ron's answer to this question, which given who he was and the fact that he _should_ have more important things to worry about (like perhaps, when Voldmort was going to strike next…), was a big deal.

"Uh," Ron stammered, "I really don't know that, mate. She doesn't talk about it much either way now."

Harry was sure that wasn't a good sign. Why would she stop talking about him? Did he do something that made her decide he wasn't a good person…that he wasn't the right person for her? He felt stupid for not having realized it sooner, but he knew he could never attain true happiness without Hermione by his side - as more than just his best friend.

"Harry?" Ron asked hesitantly after watching him stare into space for a good 2 or 3 minutes. "I'm sure it's fine. After all, it _is_ Hermione we're talking about here. She wouldn't just go and change her mind after all that time. She hasn't had enough time to think about it yet…"Ron trailed off in what he hoped would first of all, reassure Harry, and second of all, make enough of a joke to lighten up the situation a bit.

Ron hoped that would be the end of that conversation, because he had had more than enough Harry/Hermione angst to last him at least through Christmas for one day (what he wasn't telling Harry was that he did, in fact, know that Hermione still cared a great deal for him…hey, he was _her_ friend too!). What he didn't expect was what happened next.

"You know what, Ron? You're right!" Harry exclaimed, even as he realized what a ridiculous comment it was. But he didn't care. "I have to go find Hermione. I have to talk to her."

Ron's face showed pure disbelief as he watched Harry run out the door. "Checkmate!" he yelled after Harry's retreating back as his last man on the board fell.


	5. It's Good to See You, Too

Wow, no one is reading this! But for the one person who is (Anna) thanks so much for reading and your lovely reviews. I promise to keep writing it as long as you are reading! Thanks again! :)

**It's Good to See You Too**

Harry half walked, half ran through the whole Weasley house looking for Hermione. As he looked, all he could think of was the way she looked at him when he came in and the way she smiled at him at the breakfast table. He thought, _there had to be something in that smile, there just HAD to be!_. Then the fairly less comforting thought came to him, _maybe there really wasn't. Maybe she just feels sorry for you with everything that happened last year_.

Harry stopped in his tracks, horrified at that last thought. He was only glad he hadn't been calling out for her so she wouldn't even know that he had been looking for her. Because he planned to stay as far away from her as possible once Ron told her what they had talked about. Ron was his best friend, but he did have a big mouth.

"Harry!" he heard a girl's voice call out. He stopped just short of falling over when he realized it was Hermione. He glanced around his surroundings wildly. He didn't even remember coming outside, yet there he was…with Hermione…alone.

She looked even prettier than he remembered her looking at breakfast, which made his heart drop into his stomach. Especially when she smiled - and there she was, smiling at him and motioning for him to come sit down beside her on the grass. He walked over feeling the little fluttering movements his heart was making and thought, _what are you getting so worked up about?! This is just Hermione!_ But the simple fact that it _was_ Hermione was what made it so difficult, he realized. He thought about how worked up he had gotten himself over Cho Chang, and there wasn't even a friendship at stake to lose - but with Hermione…

He was barely aware that his feet were taking him closer to where she was sitting until he was sitting there next to her. "Oh, er…all right, Hermione?"

"I really am _so_ happy to see you, Harry," she began - and Harry began to feel that warmth creep inside his very bones again - "But I hope you won't mind me asking…and we don't have to talk about anything you don't want to talk about, but I was just wondering how - well, how you were doing after…you know?" He immediately tensed up as he realized what she was referring to, but when he looked up and saw the true worry and compassion in her eyes he relaxed a little.

"Oh, well…it's been difficult, you know, and…" as Harry trailed off he began thinking about the Prophesy Professor Dumbledore had told him about a few months earlier. He couldn't figure out what was so difficult about sharing it with Hermione, since he always could tell her practically anything if she asked, but he knew he didn't want to hurt her. And he was pretty sure telling her that his death was a 50-50 certainty that depended upon whether or not he could defeat Voldemort once and for all would hurt her. _I'll let her know when the time comes,_ Harry thought, and continued his reply to her. "…and, well, I'm just glad that you and the others are all right."

"Oh Harry!" Hermione exclaimed. She couldn't believe he was still worried about them when he had so much to think about on his own. "We all knew what we were doing when we went with you to the Department of Mysteries…_all_ of us. We only did it because we care about you, and I know no one blames you for anything that happened!"

Harry didn't know how she did it, but Hermione always managed to make him feel better. The way that she let him know things were okay without actually bringing up Sirius was just a way she had…a way that must have been part of what had sent him looking for her. "Thanks, 'Mione. I guess I needed to hear that," he replied, meeting her eyes (and wondering why he had never noticed how very beautiful those eyes were before).

Hermione, sensing that he wasn't ready to discuss Sirius in any detail yet, reached out for his hand. Harry continued to stare into her eyes as she did so, and she was glad to see the flush on his face and the apparent look of gratitude in his eyes. _Those eyes! _she thought, _I would do anything to see the spark in them again._

They sat contentedly for awhile, fingers laced together, until Harry's swiftly beating heart reminded him of why he had come looking for her in the first place. It was becoming increasingly difficult to look Hermione in the eyes, because he was afraid she would be able to read his thoughts, just as she always did, and he was thinking about _nothing_ he wanted her to find out about at the moment.

"…Harry?" Hermione questioned timidly after some time, "Was there anything…else you wanted to talk about?" She bit her lower lip in worry and he wondered how he could have ever missed how cute she was. He must have been blind the last 5 years to not notice her.

This was his chance - his chance to find out if she felt the same he did, or if Ron's information had been _way_ off. He didn't know what frightened him more - getting rejected and ruining their friendship, or never knowing in the first place if he could have had her or not. Meanwhile, she was staring him down, clearly expecting some sort of answer, but looking very uncomfortable as she did so. _Why did I go and ask him that?_ she thought, _if he didn't suspect your feelings before he sure does now!_

Harry, wrapped up in his own thoughts, didn't even notice the pleading tone she used to ask him that all-important question, and didn't take any real notice of the tenderness in her eyes. "Ah, I just wanted…Hermione - it's, uh, good to see you too," he finally replied.


	6. Quidditch Practice?

No reviews :( I'm starting to get sad here. Oh well, if there is anyone reading this...here is Chapter 6.

**Quidditch Practice?**

Harry wanted to kill himself after what he said outside to Hermione. What he actually did was give her a quick hug, get up, walk calmly away, and tear away looking for Ron as soon as he was out of her line of vision. If he would have looked back he would have seen a single tear finding a path down Hermione's cheek, and that one tear probably would have been all he needed to go back and finally tell her the truth. But he didn't see it.

"Ron! RON!" Harry ran through the house shouting. He was starting to get a little panicked…what if he didn't find Ron before Ron found Hermione?

"Honestly, Harry, you're going to give someone a heart attack one of these days," said Ron casually as he stepped into the kitchen. "So, what was all the yelling about anyways?"

"Ron - you didn't, uh…you haven't seen Hermione around, have you?" Harry tried to get out, gasping to catch his breath all the while. _It's alright, there's no way he could have gotten to her already, _he thought, but then the other little voice in his head said, _but what if he did?_

"Actually, yeah," Ron replied, looking a little uncertain, "She was outside crying…so I take it I gave you the wrong advice, eh? You should've known better than to listen to me!"

"Crying?" Harry asked, and felt a sudden sadness come over him. He would do anything to keep pain away from Hermione - and that's what he just thought he had done. "But, wait a minute…I didn't tell her anything!" ejaculated Harry out loud as he was thinking. "She can't be crying over something I did."

"Harry, mate, sometimes I wonder why they think you're the smarter wizard of the two of us," Ron told him sarcastically. "She obviously still likes you and thought you were going to tell her that you felt the same. When you _didn't_, she was probably mortified…not to mention upset."

_How could I have been so stupid?_ Harry asked himself as he recalled the look in Hermione's eyes and the way she latched his hand in hers. Then he had a sudden thought- "Right, just a minute Ron, how did _you_ get to know so much about what goes on in a girl's head?"

"I…I - er, I don't…that is, uh, I had been doing a lot of talking with Hermione, and she…told me some things, and that's how I know…about, er, girls," Ron shot back as quickly and as unconvincingly as possible. Harry either didn't realize how silly Ron sounded, or didn't care at the moment because he was so preoccupied with what he should have done rather than run away.

"Boys!" said Mrs. Weasley brightly as she walked into the room, "What on earth are you doing in the kitchen of all places?"

Harry turned bright red as he wondered how close to the kitchen Mrs. Weasley had been that whole time and just how much she had heard of his and Ron's conversation. By the color Ron's face was turning, Harry knew that Ron was having the same thought. "Actually, we were just getting ready to go out for -"

"Uh, quidditch practice!" Ron butted in. Harry looked at him for the quick save with gratitude.

"Right then," said Harry, "I'll just go get my Firebolt and-"

"I'll meet you outside!" Ron shouted as he ran off, presumably to find his broomstick.

_Now I wonder what all that was about,_ thought Molly Weasley, and later, when she looked out the kitchen window, _why, they aren't even out there!_ She didn't know where the two boys had run off to, but she knew that something very odd was going between them.


	7. Just Thought You Should Know Part 2

To my lone reviewer for Chapter 6 - wonderbats - thanks for you kind review! It made me smile (and write two more chapters!) So without further ado...here is Chapter 7...with Chapter 8 soon to come. Anyone reading this, please review...it makes me happy :)

**Just Thought You Should Know Part 2**

Harry spent the remainder of the afternoon wandering around outside and thinking. He supposed Ron actually _was_ right and he should have just told Hermione how he was feeling when he had her alone. Who knew when that would happen again at the Weasley household! Soon, he realized it was getting dark and started making his way back to the house for dinner.

"Harry Potter!" exclaimed Mr. Weasley, "Good to see you, my boy, good to see you. Staying out of trouble this summer?" His eyes twinkled at Harry with the mischievous way he had about him.

"Yes, sir," Harry replied as he shook Mr. Weasley's hand, "And it's good to see you , as well. How are things going down at the Ministry?"

"Well, you know…lots to clean up there these days…but, all things considered, it could be going much worse!"

Harry didn't really like that answer. It seemed to him that it was just a fancy way of saying things weren't really going well at all.

"Now, now, don't worry Harry with business down at the Ministry," chided Mrs. Weasley. "Besides, dinner is on the table!"

Dinner itself was quite uneventful, other than the fact that anytime Harry tried to catch Hermione's eye, she averted her glance as though his gaze burned her. Even though he didn't want to see her uncomfortable, the predicament she appeared to be in cheered him because it seemed to justify Ron's prediction about how she was feeling. He just hoped he'd have the chance to get to her after dinner…

He got a little discouraged when he couldn't find her anywhere after dinner. Neither Ron nor Ginny knew where Harry could find her, and he surely wasn't asking Mrs. Weasley after all the knowing looks she had been giving him since breakfast. He looked up at the stars as he walked along and was so preoccupied in his thoughts he didn't even notice where his feet were carrying him. He only stopped and looked around when he heard somebody crying softly nearby and realized he was in the spot he and Hermione had been in earlier in the afternoon.

"…Hermione?" he asked, tentatively - he didn't want to startle her.

She looked up at him, and even with the tear streaks running down her face he knew she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Her eyes were shining still with tear left unshed, and he had to struggle to swallow the lump that came up in his throat.

"Harry," she said, struggling to wipe her face clean. _Leave it to Hermione to try to act like nothing is wrong,_ he thought. "What are you doing out here?" Her voice was slightly husky from crying, and he wondered fleetingly just how long she had been sitting outside.

He realized it was getting chilly outside and put his sweatshirt around her shoulders. She shivered, but hugged it close to her as if it were a lifeline and she were drowning. He knew he had to take action, because if he didn't he'd never get the courage up again. "Actually," he whispered, "I was looking for you."

Harry hoped he didn't imagine the look of relief on Hermione's face when he said that. He sat down next to her and they sat in silence for a couple of minutes. Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity, she said, "I was hoping you would come." Hearing the hesitation in her voice as she said it and seeing the trepidation in her eyes was all he needed to do what he was about to do next.

He grinned at her shyly and took her hand. "Hermione…er, there's something I've been wanting to talk to you about all day - and it's not getting any easier the longer I wait." Harry looked up at her and saw a loose strand of hair falling down over her forehead. _Okay,_ he thought, _this is it_. He took the lock of hair and gently tucked it back behind her ear where it belonged and the next thing he said was so quiet she wasn't even sure she had heard him properly. " 'Mione…I've been wanting to say that I - er, well…I…" Harry was horrified that he couldn't even get the words out of his mouth.

Uncertainly, he glanced away nervously and then back at Hermione, who, to his great surprise was smiling. It was a wavery sort of smile…but it was still a smile. "Oh Harry," she replied, "I never thought you'd tell me."

Harry had no idea what she was going on about - he didn't tell her anything! However, then she reached down and took his hand and leaned her head back on his shoulder and he figured whatever she had gotten out of what he said couldn't be all that bad. _This is why it's a good thing it's Hermione you fancy, _he thought, _who else would be that perceptive?_

"Actually," Harry answered (still a bit uncertainly), "I probably wouldn't have, but I had a talk with Ron this afternoon that changed my mind."

She stared at him in disbelief and thought, _even if I _was_ that transparent, what could Ron possibly tell Harry that made him think differently?_ What she said was "I didn't really think it was common knowledge…but I guess he knows us pretty well."

"Knows us? I wouldn't think it would be that difficult to figure out, seeing as how you told him about how you felt and all."

At those words Hermione felt nothing at first but utter confusion - then as the realization of what must have taken place hit her she grew absolutely livid with anger. She snapped back up from where she had been leaning, stood up as quickly as possible, and stood facing him with her hands on her hips. "Oh _really_?" she hissed through clenched teeth. "And _what_ exactly did Ron tell you about _my_ feelings?"

_Somehow I've made a horrible mess of things already - and it's only been 5 mintues!_ Harry thought as he groaned inwardly. "Well, ah…it seems that I…er…can't _exactly_ remember what Ron said…but something about the Yule Ball, and…ah maybe something about you liking me then…but that's it!" He couldn't understand what she was so mad about since she was the one that had _told_ Ron these things.

Ever since he started talking, Hermione's face just kept getting redder and redder. Actually, he was wondering when it would stop - it was turning a color he had never seen before and it was kind of scary.

"You can tell _Ron_," she spat out mercilessly, "that I'm looking for him if you see him…I have to tell _him_ a thing or two he doesn't already know!"

With those words hanging in the air she flounced off towards the Weasley house, leaving Harry speechless and wondering _what_ the hell just happened.


	8. Mortal Peril

To my reviewer, animerockstar, thank you! I almost had to change what I wrote for this chapter because you guessed RIGHT ON! But I really liked this chapter (it's one of my favorites) so I decided to leave it as is. To my lovely readers, thank you and please review! I LOVE reviews...they make me do this -----> :) So, there might be more to this story...there might not. I haven't decided whether or not to continue (I believe I will). So thanks for your time!

**Mortal Peril **

Harry was left shivering (Hermione had his sweatshirt) under the tree they had been sitting beneath. After a few moments of stunned silence when she left, he got the sense to get up and start walking the same path she had taken towards the house. He wanted to find her and make sure she was okay…but she had been downright _terrifying_ a few minutes ago.

As he grew closer to the house he began to hear a loud shrieking noise, followed by a few seconds of quiet, which in turn was followed by more shrieking. When he got to the door he opened it as quietly as possible and stepped inside the kitchen. He looked at the clock that showed where all the Weasley's were at any given time. The hands were all pointing to "bed"…other than Ron's, which was pointing to "mortal peril". His heart began to pound as he realized how eerily still it was in the house, just seconds after hearing all that shrieking coming from somewhere in it.

Harry began to run up the stairs to Ron's room (which was where he thought the yelling had been coming from) and saw, to his great relief, that there was still a light on. He tried the knob only to find it was locked, and began to bang on the door. Just as he was about to start figuring out a way to get it open, a very flustered looking Hermione opened it for him. She was still red in the face from screaming and as Harry looked past her, he could see Ron cowering with fear on his bed.

"Just _what_ in bloody hell is going on here, anyway?" Harry bellowed as he took in the scene before him. Outside he thought that he was going to get his happy ending with Hermione, but as he looked around the room he wasn't really sure what was happening between the three friends.

"Harry! How…how're you doin', mate?" Ron asked, clearly more happy to see Harry than he had ever been in his entire life and entirely failing in trying to act like nothing was out of the ordinary.

"This…this…_traitor_," Hermione broke in, "read my journal…my most _personal_ thoughts! That's how he knew all the things he told you…I never told any of those things to anyone!"

As Harry realized that Hermione was the source of Ron's "mortal peril" hand on the clock, he looked from Hermione to Ron - who still looked scared out of his mind - and did the only thing he could do. He started to laugh.

The look of frustration on Hermione's face slowly changed to shock, then sorrow as she thought, _he doesn't care! I thought he did, but he doesn't even care that Ron invaded my most personal space._ She pushed past Harry and ran out of the room, already starting to cry for the third time in one day.

As soon as Harry saw her running out with tears on her face, his laughter ceased immediately. "Hermione!" he called after her - but she wouldn't stop. He started to go after her until he heard Ron speak for the first time since Harry had reached his room.

"Good going on that one, mate."

Harry stared at him in disbelief. "Good going? Good _going_?! How about you and your bloody snooping?! That's what's got us here in the first place!" he yelled uncontrollably.

Ron (Harry noted) at least had the decency to look apologetic as he said what he said next, which was, "I didn't _mean_ to do it! Hermione was here for a couple of days before you, and when she arrived she was carrying this book, which isn't unusual for her, but I overheard her telling Ginny it was her journal, which I guess is a muggle thing her mum got her for her birthday to write all her thoughts down in. She and Ginny were off in town with mum one day…and it was there on her bed…_open_. I couldn't…I couldn't help myself. I didn't know she'd take it so hard."

"Why _wouldn't_ she take it hard, Ron?" Harry replied. "How would you like it if someone knew all of your most personal, private thoughts? So that's how you became an expert on girls…Hermione in particular!"

"I told you I didn't mean to do it! It's just…once I started reading, I couldn't stop. Do you think she'll forgive me?" Ron asked with a look of fear in his eyes. He didn't know what he would do if Hermione stopped being his friend. True, she annoyed him constantly about homework, and there wasn't anyone more mental than her…but he knew he would miss her.

"I don't know, Ron, and quite frankly, I don't know if I want someone that untrustworthy to be _my_ friend, either," Harry said with finality as he walked out the door.

* * *

"Hermione?" Harry whispered as he knocked on her door softly. He didn't get a reply, but he could hear her quietly weeping when he put his ear up to the door. Just hearing her cry broke his heart, so he opened the door without an invitation and found her lying on her bed, facedown, muffling her sobs with a pillow.

It wasn't until he entered the room that he remembered it was actually Ginny's room they were in, and as he looked around wildly, noticed with relief that she was apparently a _very_ heavy sleeper.

Hermione either didn't notice that Harry had entered the room or chose not to acknowledge him - he didn't know which - so he sat cautiously on the edge of her bed and patted her back.

" 'Mione? Are you all right?" he asked in a quiet voice.

Suddenly she flipped over and glared at him. "We can't talk about this here!" she whispered back violently. "Come on!"

She led him out of the room, down the stairs, through the kitchen, out the door, and back outside, to what Harry was starting to think of as "their spot" under the tree. It had gotten warmer outside and the moonlight was shining through the tree leaves to sparkle in her eyes and dapple on her skin. Even though he was positive she was furious at him for laughing before, he couldn't help but think about how beautiful she was…maybe even more so because of how mad she was. It put fire in her eyes and he could see the proud woman she would become.

She just stood there for the longest time, until eventually she asked simply, "Why?"

Harry let out a big sigh of relief - he had been expecting the same treatment Ron had gotten upstairs. He supposed maybe she had gotten tired of yelling for the night. "I wasn't laughing because of what he did to you. I would never make fun of you, Hermione. I know how it looked to you, but I just didn't know what to do. I would never hurt you on purpose…I…I think I'm falling in love with you."

He realized with horror that her eyes were filling up again…he couldn't believe how much _water_ this girl had in her! He was starting to wonder if all girls cried all the time, between Cho and Hermione…unless _he_ was the one that caused all the crying? He grew more and more panicked until Hermione threw herself at him. She was crying, yes, but she was also hugging him and mumbling something into his chest.

He didn't really know what to do, so he just kept holding her and sort of patting her on the back the way he did with Cho. Then he remembered suddenly how Hermione rolled her eyes at him when he told her that's what he did with Cho, so he pulled away from her a bit to see what she was feeling. "Er… 'Mione? I didn't catch any of what you said there."

"Harry," she said with a sigh, "That's all I've wanted to hear from you for so long now. I can't even begin to tell you when it started because it seems I've always felt this way. I was so mad at Ron not only because he betrayed my trust, but because I was afraid I would lose you if you didn't feel the same way that I do. I know now that you were about to tell me outside before, but when you told me about Ron…I just lost it. I'm sorry."

Harry could hardly believe was she had said, it made him so happy. " 'Mione," he said gruffly, "There's something I'm going to do now that I should have done a long time ago." With those last words, he looked down into her beautiful brown eyes, which were getting closer and closer, until at last their lips met and he was kissing her. He hadn't had too much experience with kissing (just Cho and the tearful one) but as far as it went, he had to admit that this was the best feeling he had ever experienced. It was as though he couldn't get enough of her…her lips, the taste of her, the warmth of her body against his…it all sent him through a dizzying set of new feelings.

When he finally broke the kiss he said, "I don't think anymore, I know. I know that I am in love with you, Hermione Granger. It only took one kiss to realize what I've been too stupid to notice all along."

"Oh Harry," she replied as she locked her arms around his neck and looked up into his startlingly green eyes, "I'm in love with you, too. Even though what Ron did was horrible, I might have to forgive him now, because what he learned in those journal entries led you to me now."

With the sudden mention of Ron, Harry was compelled to ask her a question that had popped into his mind the instant the door of Ron's room was opened earlier. "Hermione…why was it I could hear you yelling outside, but as soon as I walked into the house it was silent? You hadn't stopped yelling, I'm sure."

She flushed as she realized Harry had heard her attack on Ron earlier, and said, "Oh no! The window must have been open! I put a silencing charm on the door so no one would hear me…and then didn't notice the window." Harry couldn't help but be proud of the fact that a witch smart enough to put a silencing charm on a door when she was _that _upset was in love with him.

Then she got a rather mischievous look on her face and cheekily said, "As long as we're asking questions…why _did_ you laugh when you found out what happened?"

Harry grinned as he remembered the clock and told Hermione about the "mortal peril" Ron had been in earlier. She also burst out laughing. "I had no idea I was that _scary_!"

"Not usually," replied Harry, "But you did a pretty good job tonight. So are you really going to forgive Ron?"

She bit her lip thoughtfully and Harry thought to himself, _I can't believe how irresistible she is when she isn't even trying_. " I suppose he really did do it in our best interests…and things really wouldn't be the same without him," she said as Harry nodded in agreement, "but I don't see why he shouldn't suffer through the night and think about what he did," she added with a twinkle in her eyes.

"No…I don't suppose so," he said, while pretending to be thoughtful. With that, he tackled her to the ground and kissed her under the stars, talking in between kisses, until they fell asleep in each others arms.


	9. All's Well That Ends Well

To my reviewers, thank you so much! Scrumptious...I'm really glad you like this! Your review made me go all warm and fuzzy inside (and maybe blush a little bit, too). Slytherin-girl...thanks for even reviewing back chapters. Your reviews were so nice :) (I agree w/ you about the H/Hr and D/P too, by the way...if you have any thoughts, by all means email or IM me!) In other news, readers, I changed my settings so that I can get anonymous reviews...so anyone can press the little button and make me happy. Thank you so much for reading...and here is Chapter 9!

**All's Well That Ends Well**

Harry was having another wonderful dream…and yet again was jolted out of it, this time by someone screaming "HARRY POTTER!". He bolted upright and looked around wildly. He smiled when he saw Hermione next to him, although he couldn't figure out what she was looking at with mounting horror on her face. She sat transfixed, looking in the direction of the Burrow, and as he turned to see what was holding her attention he felt his heart drop into the pit of his stomach. Coming towards them was none other than Mrs. Weasley.

"Just _what_ do you think you two are doing out here? Leaving the safety of my house in the _middle of the night_?! You could have been _killed_! You could have _died_! It would have been all my fault…I didn't keep a close enough watch on you. What would I have told your parents, Hermione? Oh Harry, I could never _forgive_ myself…" Mrs. Weasley trailed off. Harry fought off the urge to snort - he noticed she didn't have anything to say about the Dursley's missing him. In fact, he was sure they would thank her for having gotten rid of him, at last.

"Uh…we're sorry, Mrs. Weasley. I feel just _awful_," Hermione started to reply. Harry didn't know how she was going to get them out of trouble, but it sure seemed like she was about to try. "What I mean is, _we_ feel awful," she said, while nudging Harry in the ribs.

"Ow!" exclaimed Harry. He furrowed his brow when he saw the look Hermione shot him, then glanced at Mrs. Weasley, who just looked confused. Then suddenly, he got it. "Oh right! We feel terrible that we worried you like this…erm…we were trying to actually do some…ah-"

"Studying!" Hermione shot out. She figured that it would be an answer that would be at least vaguely believable coming from her, though with Harry, she wasn't so sure. "We…got some homework from our Astronomy professor. Professor Sinistra told us that sometime over the summer we were to finish…charting, um, certain constellations and-"

"Yeah mum, they tried to get me to come with, but you know me…didn't really feel like starting that assignment yet…we still have a few days before we go back to Hogwart's and all, you know." This sudden outburst came from Ron, who seemed to appear out of nowhere. Harry and Hermione threw him thankful glances, and they both thought with a little bit of regret about the things they said to him the night before.

"Well…" Mrs. Weasley still looked rather suspiciously at Harry and Hermione, but seemed to realize she was outnumbered, not to mention the fact that they had a perfectly plausible alibi. "In that case, Ronald Weasley, you will spend the whole of tonight after dinner doing that assignment. You should take on the example of these two _responsible_ friends of yours and get your work done sooner rather than later."

Ron groaned inwardly at his mother's words, seeing that all three of them had completed that very same chart in their third year. _But_, he thought, _I guess it's a small price to pay to have them speaking to me again_, as he noticed Harry grinning at him from behind Mrs. Weasley's back.

"As for you two," she continued, "You are _not_ to leave the house like that without telling Arthur or I where you're going again…especially _you_, Harry. I thought you had more sense than that by now. Ah well, I suppose there was no real harm done…I have breakfast on the table. Come on, you lot." She gave Harry a pat on the shoulder as she passed, letting him know that her somewhat harsh words didn't really mean all that much.

As soon as she was out of earshot, Harry and Hermione walked hand in hand up to Ron. "Well, thanks…Ron. It was brilliant of you to help us like that," Harry offered.

"Yes, but what made you do it?" Hermione asked him.

"After you two left last night I did some thinking-" he started, as Harry tried to conceal another snort, "-and realized that what I did to both of you wasn't really fair. Harry, I'm sorry for acting like a jerk, and Hermione, I'm really sorry for invading your privacy the way I did. I wasn't being a very good friend to either of you, and I just wanted to find a way to make up for it, I guess."

"Wow, Ron…that's pretty deep," Harry said with a smirk and Ron playfully punched him on the shoulder.

Hermione kissed him on the cheek (at which his face immediately turned crimson) and said, "It's alright…I suppose it really was for the best, after all," and smiled prettily at Harry while lightly squeezing his hand. With that, Ron knew his two best friends had forgiven him.

"So, what d'you reckon? My mum said she had food on the table!" Ron said brightly while the other two laughed.

"Good to know things are back to normal," Harry replied as the three of them walked back to the Burrow together, chatting animatedly as though nothing had even happened.

* * *

But something _had_ happened, of course. After a lengthy and _very_ filling breakfast, the three friends started talking about their upcoming trip to Hogsmeade. Mrs. Weasley had relented and told them they could go before the start of term if they went to Diagon Alley and got their school supplies first.

"Well, our letters say all we need to get this year is The Standard Book of Spells Grade 6, Caring for Mythical Beasts for Intermediary Students, and to bring dress robes again. Do you think there's going to be another dance?" Hermione asked excitedly.

Harry smiled weakly at her and thought to himself, _I hope not! I remember how that turned out last time around_. He glanced over at Ron and saw that he held the same horrified look. The last ball hadn't turned out very well for either of them - the last thing they needed was a recap of that terrible night.

"Anyhow," Hermione went on, seemingly unconcerned with the boy's reactions, "that shouldn't take too long to pick up. We should have plenty of time in Hogsmeade!"

Ron, thankful for a change of topic from such heinous things as school and dances, replied, "Brilliant! You two _have_ to see what Fred and George have done with their shop…and we need to go to Honeyduke's…my supply from last term is almost non-existent…and we haven't all sat down and had a Butterbeer at the Three Broomsticks in _ages_!"

Hermione smiled to see her friend's enthusiasm for their upcoming trip. "You know, Ron, you really should invite Ginny…it wouldn't be fair to leave her here while we go out and have fun."

Ron made a face as he mouthed, "Mental!" at Harry, then grinned at Hermione, who just looked up from their Hogwart's letters and said, "Yeah - I'll do that. I'll ask her before I do all my _homework_ I have to do tonight."

Hermione swatted Ron with one of the letters and retorted, "Honestly, you'd think you'd be a little more remorseful for what you did. I can see that was short lived. I'll ask Ginny myself…she is _my _friend, after all…she's just your sister."

"I didn't mean - it's not that I don't want Ginny to go, it's just that…I thought it was going to be the three of us, and it's _not_ the three of us if she comes…it'll be the four of us!" Ron spat back.

Harry sighed as he braced himself for a famous Hermione/Ron argument, but then something extraordinary happened. "It's alright, Ron. If you don't want her to come, we don't have to invite her. I just thought it'd be nice, that's all," Hermione said in a much softer tone of voice than she had before.

"No, it's okay," Ron replied. "She'll probably find someone else to hang out with while we're there anyways, there should be loads of people there with school starting and all…after all, she is my sister and your friend." It seemed that as soon as Hermione backed down, Ron cooled off immediately. _Where was _that_ information all these years?_ Harry wondered as he looked back and forth between the two. He just shook his head and stopped thinking about it…it was making his head hurt.

* * *

Later, when he had Hermione alone, he asked, "What was that all about? Before, about Ginny and Hogsmeade, I mean?"

"Oh," she replied cooly, "I thought I'd be much better off saving my energies for more important things than bickering with Ron." She then surprised him with a coy smile and wound her arms around his neck.

"Well, if that's the case, then I'm all for you two working out _all_ your issues," replied Harry, as he brought his mouth down to her waiting lips.

When they finally broke the kiss, Hermione grinned and said, "That could take awhile."

Harry gave her one the most dashing smiles he could muster, and replied, "Good. I have all the time in the world," before letting his lips fall lightly on hers again.

"Does that mean we're a…a couple?" Hermione asked, a bit hesitantly.

"I hope so. I may not be very good at this sort of thing…so don't laugh when I screw it up, but…Hermione, will you be my girlfriend?" Harry asked, expectantly.

"Yes, Harry," Hermione said softly, "I would love to be your girlfriend. And you did it perfectly…I wouldn't have you any other way."


	10. Secrets and School Supplies

Oh wow guys, I hope this isn't as long as I think it's going to be (the A/N, not the story lol). First off, to my readers who have been w/ me since the beginning of this story, thank you so much for your continued support! To my newer reviewers...thank YOU for choosing my story and for reviewing, it means a lot! Some individuals:

Falron: I actually probably wasn't going to continue this story til I got your review lol...your review got me thinking and inspired me.

Derek: Thanks for your continued support of EVERY story I write lol. Words cannot express what that means to me (though you keep making me blush...not sure if that's good or bad) :-)

Slytherin-girl: Thank you, thank you for being such a cool person lol. Reviews almost every chapter...woo! Hope to talk to you soon!

Rae: You are the coolest psycho shipper I've met :-) Thanks for reading! Hope to talk to YOU soon, as well! (hint, hint lol)

insanity and rockstar: Thanks for reviewing multiple times (and so nicely, too).

Reviewers like you guys make my day! Enjoy Chapter 10!

Sigh...I do not own Harry Potter...blah, blah, blah...you all know this.

* * *

**Secrets and School Supplies**

After a few fairly uneventful days (Harry and Hermione had managed to keep their relationship a secret from everyone but Ron), the time came to go to Diagon Alley to get their school supplies. It was a special trip this year, as it was the first time the young witches and wizards would be going by themselves and were also allowed to go to Hogsmeade.

"GINNY!" Ron bellowed up the stairs, "the only reason you're even coming is because Hermione wants you to, so if you don't get a move on, we're leaving without you!" He turned around to face Hermione and spat, "See? This is only one reason she shouldn't have come in the first place!"

Hermione regarded him coolly. "Grow up, Ronald. We still have plenty of time."

With that, Ginny came bounding down the stairs looking fresh and ready for the new day. Ron glowered at her. "About time you showed up. We've all been ready for hours."

"What?! I'm ready!" Ginny got an indignant look on her pretty face and balled up her fists at her sides.

Hermione, attempting to stop an impending argument from the red-headed siblings put her hand on Ron's arm and said, "Honestly, Ron. It has _not_ been hours. Ginny, we're glad you could make it today. Now let's just go, okay?"

"Alright," Ron replied reluctantly. "Hey! Mum left us some floo power over on the table by the fireplace there. Harry, mate, make sure you speak _clearly_ this time. We wouldn't want you to get lost in Knockturn alley again."

Harry grinned and punched Ron in the arm playfully. "Now who's taking up time? Let's GO!"

One by one they took a handful of floo powder and stepped into the fireplace. They shouted, "Diagon Alley!" and arrived safely. Once they got there, they saw many of their classmates from Hogwart's getting their school supplies as well. Harry had to make a concentrated effort not to take Hermione's hand. They had discussed it earlier and decided it would be easier to let everyone know about their developing relationship slowly, rather than just hit them over the head with it.

"Hey! There's Luna," Ginny exclaimed. "Better go over and say hi, Ron…I bet she's just _dying_ to run into you," she said with a sly look on her face.

"What?!" Ron almost yelled, "Why would she want to see me? Completely mental, that one is."

Ginny laughed when she saw the color her brother's ears had turned and figured she had gotten back at him for yelling at her before. She also figured she better get out of his sight before something really bad happened to her. "Right…well, I guess I'll just go and say hello to her myself then," she said as she started to make her way over to Flourish & Blotts, which is where she saw Luna in the window.

"Girls," Harry and Hermione could hear Ron mutter under his breath as they wandered along the now familiar street. They shared a grin and chose to ignore it for their own safety.

"So!" Hermione said brightly, "Robes or books first?"

"Books!" both boys replied quickly. Neither of them was looking forward to reminders that a dance was coming up this year. Ron, having gotten new robes from the twins the year before, didn't need to get fitted for any but he had told Harry he'd go with him to get his.

"Well then, you two can go get your books, and I'll go grab Ginny and Luna and get my dress robes. We could meet outside the Leaky Cauldron and use their fireplace to get to Hogsmeade in, oh say, about an hour and a half?" she suggested.

"What? I thought we were all doing this together," Harry whined.He knew hecouldn't hold Hermione's hand or kiss her, but he thought he'd at least be able to _look_ at her.

"Well, _you_ are my date, Mr. Potter. And you can't see my robes until the dance!" She gave him a coy smile and said, "So it's a plan then? Good…see you later!"

She ran off in the direction Ginny went, leaving both boys gaping after her retreating back. Ron grinned. "Good luck with that one, mate."

"Thanks, Ron…that's really helpful," Harry replied.

The two of them went into Flourish & Blotts to get the two books they were assigned for the year. While they were there, they ran into some of their fellow Gryffindors; Neville Longbottom, Seamus Finnigan, and Dean Thomas. For some reason, Neville blushed and ran off to a different section of the store when he saw Ron. _What is _with _everyone today?_ Ron thought to himself. He shook the thought off (as he tends to do) and continued to look for his books.

* * *

While the boys were getting their books, the girls were getting fitted for their dress robes andsharing the girl talk they missed out on whenthey weren't intheir dorms. "Oh my god!" Ginny squealed. "He finally kissed you?! What was it like?" She noticed the look in Hermione's eyes and explained, "Don't worry…I got over my crush on him last year, remember? I have plans of my own for now." She got a mysterious glint in her eyes but continued to prod Hermione for details.

"It wouldn't be ladylike to say," Hermione answered. Ginny pouted for a minute while Hermione pretended to ponder telling her what happened. "What I mean is, it wouldn't be ladylike to tell you that he is the most _amazing_ kisser! Ginny, he is so loving, and sensitive-"

"And HOT!" Ginny screeched. She then grinned sheepishly and said, "Sorry…I may have gotten over him, but he is still the best looking guy in your year by far!"

Hermione just smiled and thought, _and he's mine!_ Ginny saw the dreamy look on her face and just laughed. "You are really gone on him! I just hope he knows how lucky he is."

Luna piped up, "Don't count on that. Guys usually can't tell what's right in front of them…it's not in their nature. Daddy told me that when we were in Nova Scotia looking for a Poisonous Plinkerblot. He was going to let me write a large piece about it…but we never found one…" she trailed off.

Hermione jumped at the sound of her voice. She had forgotten Luna was even there and rolled her eyes. Luna was nice, but sometimes Hermione was still of the opinion that she wasn't all there. She regarded her reflection in the mirror. Instead of the powder blue dress she had chosen their fourth year, she was fitted for some form-fitting maroon dress robes with golden piping. She wanted to both show her house spirit _and_ knock Harry's socks off.

Hermione grinned evilly. "Anyway, Ginny, what exactly are your _plans_?"

"Don't you worry about that, Hermione Granger. Everyone will find out just soon enough," she retorted. "And don't try your sad face on me…it may work with Harry and my brother, but it won't do you any good now."

"Plans don't always work out as you want them to," Luna half whispered, as though to herself, "but there are ways to help them along."

Hermione and Ginny looked at her questioningly, but she seemed to be (characteristically) in her own little world again. The girls shrugged, put their regular clothes back on, and went to get their robes wrapped to take home.

* * *

"Where _are_ they? I'm starved - it's been forever since we had breakfast," Ron complained to Harry. They left the other boys at Flourish & Blotts when the time came to meet the girls at the Leaky Cauldron.

"Relax, Ron. Here they come right now," Harry pointed down the street as he saw the blond, brunette, and redhead come into view.

"Oh, brilliant," Ron remarked sarcastically, "they brought Looney Lovegood with them."

"Get over it, Ron. Think about how she came to the Ministry with us last year. She might be a little…off, but that's no reason to be rude."

Ron stared at Harry incredulously. "What has Hermione done to you?"

"Just shut up…here they come."

Hermione fought the urge to run into Harry's arms when she saw him standing there, though it was hard when he was standing there looking so adorable. Even though everyone standing there knew about the two of them now, she knew there had to be other people from school around. _Yeah, probably should warn him that Ginny and Luna know_, she thought fleetingly. "Hey!" she said brightly, "ready to go to Hogsmeade?"

"Well, you guys took so long that Harry wasn't able to get his dress robes, but he can get them in Hogsmeade some other time, right Harry?" Ron looked at him pleadingly.

"Uh…right, that's fine." Harry said. "I think Ron's about to die if he doesn't get something to eat, so we better get going."

The five of them walked into the Leaky Cauldron and Harry asked Tom if they could use the fireplace. He didn't have a problem with it, so they each took a turn with the floo powder once more and traveled to Hogsmeade.


	11. A Temper Tantrum, a Ferret, and New Love...

Well, here I am again, faithful readers, to give you a few of my notes and greetings before the story proceeds. (Don't you just hate this? tee hee). Onto the individual shoutouts:

tennisprincess: Thanks! That's exactly what one of my friends told me lol. So hopefully you're right and some people really ARE just reading this...anyhow, thanks for the vote of confidence :-)

fanjimmy: Thanks for picking up on my story and the nice reviews.

Derek: Thanks again for bein my buddy that reads my stories ALL the time! Here's Chapter 11...just for you!

Potterfan and E.G. Potter: Thanks for reviewing so positively...you kind of readers are the ones that make me wanna continue this story!

Slytherin-girl: Again, thank you so much for being such an avid reader of my little ficcy :-) You're the coolest!

!h&hrfan!: Heh...you made me blush, I think. Thank you so much...I'm glad you like it!

That's about it, I think. I just wanna say again though (even though this is getting redundant) that I really appreciate you guys. Little review emails make me smile all day! And any and all of you please feel free to email or IM me...the info is in my little profile thingee. And as you all know, I don't own Harry Potter. On with the story!

* * *

**A Temper Tantrum, a Ferret, and New Love?**

Once they had all arrived through the floo network in Hogsmeade, plans were immediately made for Ron to get some lunch. He was already hot-tempered, and the hungrier he was, the more prickly he became. "Well, can't we just get some food in the Three Broomsticks?" Ron suggested, "We haven't been there in ages, and it's been awhile since I've had a good butterbeer."

"Um, actually, Ron," Hermione started, "why don't you, Ginny, and Luna go on. Harry and I aren't really all that hungry." Harry glanced over at her in bewilderment and she tipped him a wink. He really _was_ quite hungry, but he supposed he could wait to find out whatever Hermione was planning. He hadn't been alone with her all day.

"What?!" Ron almost shouted. "I thought the purpose of this trip was to do things together? You're already starting to leave me out of things…I knew this was going to happen."

Harry didn't even notice how upset his friend was because he was too busy fuming over Ron letting out their secret to Ginny and Luna. "Thanks a lot, Ron. Thanks for keeping your mouth shut," he said as he glared at him.

"It's okay, Harry. I already told them in the shop when we were getting our robes," Hermione explained. "I hope that's alright. I'm sure they won't tell anyone until we're ready for everyone to know."

Harry looked down at her and saw the worry in her eyes. He didn't want her to be scared of him ever and he certainly didn't want to lose his temper with her. He only wanted to make her happy. "Of course…that's okay," he replied, in what he hoped were soothing tones. "I'm sure everything will be fine."

"No, everything will _not_ be fine," Ron spat. "You're already forgetting about me. Why would you need me when you have _her_? Now you have your best friend and a girlfriend all in one…I'm nothing but the third wheel. C'mon, Ginny, let's go." He grabbed her by the arm and dragged her off in the direction of the Three Broomsticks.

"Harry, Hermione!" she called, "Meet us here in about an hour! We still have the floo powder!" Luna ran after Ron and Ginny and all three of them disappeared behind the door of the building.

"Do you reckon we should go after him?" Harry asked.

"No," Hermione sighed, "I think we should just give him a little time to cool down. You know how he is. Maybe Ginny will be able to talk some sense into him."

"What do you want to do now, then?"

"I suppose we should go visit the twins," she said, almost grudgingly. The last thing either of them wanted to do was go visit Ron's brothers at the moment.

"Yeah, they threatened to test their inventions on me if I didn't come see them," Harry remembered.

"Alright then, let's go." With that, Hermione linked her arm through Harry's and started leading the way to Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. He looked at her with alarm and she said, "It's alright…this is a perfectly friendly thing to do. No one will suspect a thing."

Harry enjoyed the walk to the store despite himself. He felt terrible for feeling so happy when his best friend was mad at him, but it was hard to remember the bad things in his life when Hermione was close enough that he could smell her strawberry shampoo and feel the warmth of her body next to his. They talked about the impending term, classmates, and various other things, though each was careful not to make any mention of Ron.

When the reached the twin's store, Hermione withdrew her arm from Harry's and walked through the door. They had to push through crowds of people to try to find Fred or George, until finally Harry spotted Fred putting some things away behind the counter. He and Hermione made their way across the store to get to him.

"George!" he shouted as soon as he spotted the two of them. "Look who's come to see us in action!"

George waved and fought the masses to get over to where they were standing. "So, Harry, Hermione," he greeted, "what's new?"

_Well,_ Harry thought,_ Hermione and I are snogging now, we're doing it in secret, oh, and your brother hates both of us now as well. And you?_ "Er…nothing much, I suppose," he replied out loud, "I guess I don't have to ask you how business is doing."

"Yes," Hermione added, as she surveyed the store, "you seem to be doing quite well for yourselves here."

"Does that mean you forgive us for leaving Hogwarts?" Fred asked her with alook of mock terrorin his eyes.

"I suppose I had to learn that school isn't for everyone," she said thoughtfully. "I think your store is great - not that I would actually use anything here, but it sure seems like other people do."

"Well, Harry, it seems that Hermione thinks she doesn't need our magical tricks and treats-" Fred started.

"-but anything you want-" George butted in.

"-within reason, George, within reason…we have to turn a profit you know."

"Yes, of course…anything you want - within reason - we'll be willing to give to you for free for helping us start this grand place!" George finished. Hermione was glad to see that Fred had some business sense at least. She had had her doubts about how they would be running the place without any training or experience, but it seemed that Fred knew what he was doing.

"Oh, that's alright," Harry said graciously. "I wanted to help you guys out and I didn't want the money. I think your store is smashing…I don't need anything, anyhow."

The twins wouldn't hear of him leaving without a little something, so they decided to take it upon themselves to figure out what he would need for the new term. They began to get even busier than they were when Harry and Hermione had first walked in, so they had to get back to work soon thereafter.

"Great to see you two!" they shouted in unison. "Come back soon! Say hi to Ron and Ginny if they don't make it in!" Harry cringed as he heard Ron's name and remembered what happened earlier in the afternoon, but just nodded and waved as he and Hermione made their way back out into the street.

He was carrying two overstuffed bags filled with various tricks from the store, despite his pleas that he didn't need them. "Want to take a breather?" he asked Hermione. "There were a lot of people in there."

She nodded, and without even asking the other they both just started walking towards the Shrieking Shack. It was sort of an unspoken bond they both had with that place after their third year. She was a little worried because it would undoubtedly remind Harry of Sirius, but his feet seemed to be turning towards there as well, so she didn't dwell on the thought.

They walked in silence, rather than the animated chatter that had painted their walk to the twin's store, but it was still just as comfortable. Hermione knew that if Harry wanted to talk to her, he would, but in his own time. It was no good to try to force him to talk to her if he didn't want to now, it would only make him resentful and angry.

When they reached the Shack, they just stood and stared at it. After a few moments, Harry reached for her hand and began to stroke her fingers. "It all seems so long ago now, doesn't it?" he asked in hardly more than a whisper.

She just nodded. She smiled and leaned into him at the pressure of his hand, and he gently turned her around. "Harry…"

"It's always been you. Just being here with you, this place has so many memories for us…" he trailed off. "You were always there for me. You came to help save Sirius twice with me, even when you didn't agree with me last time. You're brave, Hermione. Being here with you makes me want to thank you for all that you've done for me." He tilted her chin up with his hand so that she was looking up at him. He leaned down to kiss her, not caring at the moment if anyone saw. He wanted everyone to know that he was in love with this girl that had risked so many things for him - that loved him for who he was.

Hermione began to melt into the kiss as it got deeper and more demanding. When they had gotten to the Shrieking Shack it seemed like a perfect place for them to be alone. Then, all of asudden they heard, "What's this?" in a familiar, sneering tone of voice. Harry broke off the kiss abruptly and whipped around.

"Malfoy." he stated dully, "What a real _pleasure_ to see you here." He didn't know why it would surprise him that Draco Malfoy would find the most inopportune moment to come and torment him.

"So, what have we here?" Malfoy directed at his loyal followers, Crabbe and Goyle. "An orphan and a mudblood…how touching." He smirked, "And all along I thought this was going to be the mudblood and Weasley's little love nest. How wrong I was…although I should have known it all along. You do have a knack for trying to save people. And the mudblood _will_ need saving soon enough."

Harry tried to rush at Malfoy, but Hermione held him back. "There's three of them," she whispered into his ear, "You're outnumbered and it isn't worth it to get into trouble before the term even starts."

As much as he hated to admit it, he knew she was right. He had gotten into enough trouble over the last five years to last him a lifetime. He knew there was more to come, so it would be best to just try to walk away from the situation. He took her hand and shoved past Malfoy and his cronies.

"That's how it's going to be, eh, Potter? My father was right about you. Foolish ideas about saving people…being a real _hero_, but you haven't got any real guts at all. Funny the hat sorted you into Gryffindor, isn't it?" he taunted.

Harry started to slow down, but Hermione continued to drag him back towards the town. "It's got to be getting close to time to meet Ron and Ginny, anyhow," she told Harry.

He nodded, tight-lipped, and allowed her to lead him away as Malfoy's laughter rang in his ears. "Wait til everyone at school hears about this! An orphan and a mudblood…" he repeated to their retreating backs.

* * *

"I can't believe the nerve they have!" Ron spat. He was wringing his napkin into tiny little pieces as he, Ginny, and Luna sat at the table waiting for their food and butterbeers. He was a dangerous shade of red, and Luna kept sneaking glances at him when she didn't think he would see her.

"Ron, I'm sure they didn't mean anything by it," Ginny soothed. "Maybe they just really weren't hungry…or maybe they had something else they had to do. They could have went to visit the twins!"

"No." he stated. "They're just sick of having me around, that's all. It was convenient for them before, having me around, but now that they're together, they don't need me." He was starting to sound less mad, and more like a whining three year old, the girls noticed. Ginny smiled, because that was a sign that he was winding down.

She opened her mouth to tell him that wasn't true, when Luna surprised them both. "Don't be stupid, Ronald Weasley. Everyone knows that you three are best friends - that you're inseparable. But now they're together, and you said you were okay with that. You can't be inseparable anymore, but you can be best friends. Do you really want to watch them snogging all the time? I suggest you find a girlfriend of your own…maybe then you won't feel so left out."

Ron and Ginny stared at her, open-mouthed. Just then, their food was dropped down in front of them at their table. Ron shut his mouth, apparently decided to ignore what Luna said to him, and dug into his roast beef and mashed potatoes. Ginny took that as a sign to do the same, and Luna regained the normal, dreamy look she had in her eyes.

"Ronald? Could you please pass me the salt?" she asked sweetly, completely disregarding her outburst a few moments earlier.

* * *

"Do you think we should go in or just wait for them out here?" Harry asked nervously. He wasn't too thrilled to see Ron again after what happened the last time.

"I think maybe it's time for us to go see him. He's had about an hour to cool down. Besides, Ginny told us to be here now," she replied, with the same nervous quality to her voice.

They opened the door and stood in the doorway, blinking as their eyes adjusted to the darkness. "Hey!" they heard Ginny shout. "We're over here!"

Hermione saw the redheaded girl waving to them from the far left side of the room. With trepidation, Harry and she made their way over to the table they were sitting at. Despite himself, Harry smirked when he saw Luna sitting on the right side of Ron, talking to him in a rather lively manner, for her.

Ron looked over at Harry and Hermione and saw how tensely they were looking back at him. He didn't want his two best friends to be scared of him, and school certainly wouldn't be the same without them. "So, uh…sorry for, well, for sort of blowing up before," he said between mouthfuls of mashed potato.

Hermione wrinkled her nose. "Thanks, Ron. Though next time you apologize, maybe you could swallow first."

Harry grinned, relieved to see that things were relatively back to normal. Then he remembered the run in with Malfoy and his face darkened immediately.

As soon as Ron had finished "stuffing his face", as Ginny put it mildly, they paid and tried to figure out whether or not they wanted to go home or walk around Hogsmeade a little more. Ron, Ginny, and Luna, of course, hadn't really walked around at all, since they were eating lunch the whole time. It was decided that they would stay for another couple of hours or so, and they started to make their way to Honeydukes, at Ron's request.

"I see you already made your way over to the twin's store," Ron noted as he saw the two gigantic bags Harry was carrying. "You must have bought the whole store…want me to take one of those?"

"Thanks," Harry said as he handed one of them over to Ron. "Actually, they insisted that I take these things as 'samples' and 'payment' for giving them the money to start the place. You can take whatever you want, if there's something you like in there."

"Well, I wouldn't mind having a few of the Skivving Snackboxes…they have been revised, so I could get out of a few lessons with Professor Snape."

Harry smirked, "Better save a few of those for me, then. Speaking of Snape, we saw his favorite student while we were out…" And so beginning, Harry related to Ron he and Hermoine's encounter with Malfoy at the Shrieking Shack.

"That little…_ferret_," Ron said viciously. "He better watch his back this year."

"Well, I'm not too worried about that right now," Harry lied. "Anyhow, I noticed you and Luna seemed to be getting along a little better at the Three Broomsticks, there."

Ron blushed. "Uh, yeah…she seems to be a nice girl," he stammered. "Not so bad, I guess, once you get past the fact she's mental."

Harry just smiled knowingly and didn't say anything more on the subject.

* * *

Ginny, Hermione, and Luna trailed in a group behind the boys, where they were having an entirely different conversation. "I'm so glad you could talk sense into him, Gin," Hermione said gratefully.

"Me? Nope, wasn't me…you can thank our friend Luna here for that one," Ginny laughed.

"It wasn't much," Luna piped in. "I just told him a few things he ought to remember, is all."

Hermione giggled as she wondered what those might be, and figured that she might not even want to know.


	12. The Expressly Wrong Trip

Ah...here they are...the ineveitable shout-outs (a small incentive to keep people reviewing). It's not much...but it's all I have to give!

Muzzy - I'm glad you think I've improved...unless that's a nice way of saying I sucked before...um...then I guess I still thank you lol. You always read my stuff...and you review! So you're awesome in my book -)

tennisprincess - You're still reading! lol...I get so excited when I have multiple reviews from one person (I realize how sad that is).

Slytherin-girl - Yay! You still like it! I really wish I was online at the same time as you one of these days lol. Grr...stupid school and work. Oh well, thanks for reading!

fanjimmy and Falron - Thanks for being such faithful readers and reviewers...it makes me grin -)

Derek - You didn't review, but I'll forgive you because you flattered me so much tonight lol. You're my favorite deli worker too!

Thanks all! Hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! I don't own HP characters, blah, blah, blah.

* * *

**The Expressly Wrong Trip**

The rest of the week after the Hogsmeade trip passed by rather uneventfully and finally it was time to go back to Hogwarts. Mrs. Weasley had woken Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny up early in the morning and they all took Mr. Weasley's new car to the train station where they would catch the Hogwarts Express. Of course, they were ready to leave right away, seeing as how Mrs. Weasley had them pack their things a few days beforehand.

"Now, Ron, don't forget to send a letter with Pig every once in awhile. And _do _let Ginny borrow him to send letters as well." Mrs. Weasley stopped and looked at the teenagers with tears in her eyes. "It seems like yesterday you lot were just starting at Hogwarts…and now…this is one of the last times I'll be putting you on this train!"

Ron struggled to get out of his mother's bone crushing embrace. "Mum, really! We have two more years to go…get off me!"

She looked at him sadly and turned to the others, "He just doesn't understand. You can't possibly understand until you have children." She sighed, "Well, you had best be getting on the train. You don't want to miss it."

"Goodbye, Mrs. Weasley," Harry said as she gathered him up in her arms. "Thank you again for letting me stay this summer."

"Not at all, dear, not at all! And take care of yourself, Harry." She let him go and turned to Hermione. "Hermione, it was a pleasure having you this summer break. Arthur and I certainly enjoyed it, and I know Ginny was happy to have another girl around."

"Thank you, Mrs. Weasly. I had a great time," she said, smiling. Harry couldn't help but notice how beautiful she looked when she smiled. He felt him restraining himself from going over and kissing her - Mrs. Weasley still wasn't in on their little "secret".

"Ginny, dear, just owl home if your brother gives you any trouble," Mrs. Weasley warned with a menacing look at Ron. He gulped and turned towards the scarlet colored engine. "We won't be seeing you at Christmas because of the ball, but we'll be here to pick you up at the end of the year!" With that, she gave each of them a final hug and left them to get on the train.

As they walked down a corridor of one of the cars, Harry and Hermione could hear Ron still mumbling about his mother and were stifling their laughter. Ginny had found Luna sitting in a car by herself and stopped to sit with her. The otherscame to a stop outside one of the compartments and Hermione said, "I can't believe we found an empty spot." Harry and Ron agreed that it was odd but they went in and sat down, regardless.

Hermione immediately buried her nose in The Standard Book of Spells: Grade 6 while the two boys played exploding snap. The trip was going rather peacefully - much more so than it had the last few years. A few students from Gryffindor poked their heads in and said hello, but as of yet, no one dared to disturb the sanctity of the trio's compartment by coming in and sitting down. Hermione looked up from her book after about a half hour had passed. "Do you think it's odd that no one has sat in our compartment yet? Usually they're all packed, and somehow this year we've got one to ourselves."

"I wouldn't worry about it, Hermione," Ron said through a mouthful of chocolate - Harry had bought an immense amount of treats from the trolley, as usual - "You act like it's a bad thing we're not all crammed in here like sardines."

"I don't know," Harry piped in, "We haven't even seen Neville yet. Usually he's come around looking for something he's lost before this amount of time has passed."

Ron shrugged, "Must be with Seamus and Dean. Want to find them and go say hello?"

Harry nodded affirmatively and reached his hand out to Hermione. She waved him away, having started reading her textbook again. "I have to be prepared for the first day. I would say the same for you two…but I guess that's probably out of the question."

Ron turned red and started to open his mouth but Harry saw the warning signs and decided it was probably best to just leave. He kissed Hermione on the top of the head, at which she didn't look up, but he saw a small smile play around the corners of her mouth. "C'mon, Ron, let's go then." To his great relief Ron followed him out of the compartment rather than starting another war with Hermione.

They walked down the corridors until they heard laughing that sounded familiar coming from a compartment they were passing. "Sounds like Ginny is having a good time," Harry commented. "Want to say hello?"

"Might as well…can't seem to find Neville anywhere."

Ron was quite wrong about that. They had found Neville at last…with Ron's sister in a somewhat compromised position. She was practically sitting on his lap when they first opened the door, though she quickly jumped up when they did. "Ron!" she screeched, "Have you ever heard of knocking!"

For the life of him, Ron couldn't seem to figure out what he wanted to do first. He just stood staring open mouthed at Neville, then his eyes flickered to Ginny.

"It isn't how it looks, Ron…uh, Ginny was um, we were…she wanted to know about Herbology in fifth year! So I was telling her…and then, well…ah…" Neville stammered.

"Just back off, Ron! I like Neville…and I think he likes me, too, so don't go scaring him off like you try to do to every boy that shows an interest in me!"

Harry stood behind Ron in disbelief. _Neville! Neville Longbottom?_ he kept thinking in his head. It was the last person he would think of seeing Ginny draped all over…or any girl, for that matter.

"Right…" Ron muttered, almost as if to himself. "So, I'm just supposed to sit here and give you my blessing, am I?" he asked a little louder. "I can't believe you, Ginny! Pretending to be little miss innocent!"

"I haven't even done anything wrong, Ron!" she interrupted.

"And _you_! Taking advantage of a girl a year younger than you…are you trying to piss me off intentionally, Neville? Because if you are, it's working!"

"Ronald," they heard from behind Harry. "I suggest you listen to them before you judge them. What did we talk about in Hogsmeade?" Harry turned around to see Luna standing there. "Excuse me, Harry. I just needed to use the ladies' room. Now I must get back to my reading."

She slid gracefully past Harry and sat down next to Neville, picked up her Quibbler, and began reading it upside down, as was her natural tendency.

Harry's eyes bulged when he heard what Luna said to Ron - he had not heard about her excellent work on him in Hogsmeade from Hermione as of yet. He thought Ron was going to blow up at her, but then he did something rather unexpected. "Oh, hello to you, too, Luna. Er…good to see you. C'mon Harry, let's get going." He threw one last disdainful look at Ginny and Neville but started walking away, nonetheless.

"What was _that_ all about?" Harry asked curiously.

"Shut up."

"Do you _fancy _Luna!"

"Shut up."

Harry grinned. He _knew_ Ron had been acting strangely since they came back from Hogsmeade. He had been sending Pig off with letters every day - now Harry suspected he knew who they were being sent to.

"I wish these bloody train rides weren't so long," Ron complained - _trying to change the subject, _Harry thought. "They seem longer every year we go."

They didn't notice a compartment door slide open as they walked by it, until suddenly they heard, "There's the orphan! And Weaselby, too. But where's your little mudblood girlfriend, eh, Potter?"

Harry turned around, shaking with anger. "Watch your mouth, Malfoy. Don't you dare call her that!"

Malfoy's eyes narrowed as he took in the sight of Ron and Harry standing before him. Surprisingly, he was without Crabbe and Goyle. Harry briefly wondered where they had gotten to - they didn't seem to do anything without direct orders from Malfoy first. "So what if I don't, Potter? What then? You and Weasley going to take me on? I started my training this summer, Potter…you don't want to mess around with me."

Ron stepped forward in front of Harry. "What do you mean, your training? I suppose your father has been showing you a thing or two about the dark arts…that's why my father says your family is a bloody disgrace - purebloods or not."

"I'd be careful if I were you, Weasley. Just because your father is the minister now doesn't make you - or _him_, for that matter - untouchable. You don't even want to know the things that are planned."

Harry watched the two pairs of eyes flashing at each other. "Shove off, Malfoy. Your fight was with me, not him."

"You're right, Potter. However, I have more important things to tend to than worrying about the love affair between you and Granger. Though someday soon, that may not be the case. Watch yourself…and more importantly, you had better watch her." He slammed the door shut in Harry and Ron's faces.

The two boys stared incredulously at one another. "That…that complete…and utter…_git!" _Ron yelled.

Harry sighed. "It's no use, Ron. He's been trying to get the best of us for years - we're sixteen years old now - it's time to stop egging him on"

Ron looked at Harry as though there were a large, disgusting spider on his forehead. "_What_! Have you gone mental? What has having a girlfriend done to you?"

Harry didn't feel like telling Ron he was afraid to provoke Malfoy for reasons of his own. He feared not for his own safety, but for Hermione's, whom he placed above all others. "Just…you wouldn't understand, Ron. Forget it."

Harry stalked off in the direction of their compartment to find Hermione and see if she could provide him with any consolation and a better mood, but as soon as he saw her sitting on the seat reading innocently, he knew he couldn't tell her about what had happened. It would just cause her to worry, and he only wanted to make her happy.

It had turned into a rather dismal train ride, after all. His first inclination was to tell her what he found out about Ron, but thinking of him reminded him of their fight, which was due in part to how he felt about her. The last thing he wanted was for her to think she made him unhappy.

"Hey there, beautiful," he said as he plastered a huge, fake smile on his face.

Hermione pretended to look around the compartment they were in. "There's nobody here who answers to that name, Harry. Maybe you're in the wrong place."

He smiled again - for real, this time - and went to sit down next to her. "I'm still reading, Harry. Don't think you're going to get your way and make me stop, because it's not happening."

"That's okay," he replied. "I just wanted to be near you, is all." She grinned and gave him a kiss on the nose. He grabbed her hand gently and sat quietly stroking her fingers until it was time to change and get off the train, still with no Ron in sight.


	13. Lover's Spats and Making Up

Alright! I'm well aware of the fact that it's been awhile...and there have been a few reasons for that. First of all, I have sadistic professors who enjoy giving out _loads_ of homework. Secondly, I had a pretty tight work/class schedule. Lastly, I _had _to try something un-Harry Potter related, and thus wrote my Princess Diaries fic. Oh, that and the major writer's block I had on this story! Anyway, here are the shout outs to the reviewers:

Falron, Monkey, Slytherin-girl, and fanjimmy: Thanks so much for always reading and reviewing...you guys make my day!

Magnas: Thanks for calling my stuff well-written...uh...at least I think that's what you were implying by saying that lol.

harry4hermione: Thank you so much for your praise and constructive criticism. I admit to being wrong on the whereabout's of Fred and George's shop...but I kinda needed it there for my story, too. Rats. However...don't you worry your pretty little head about the O.W.L. results of the trio...I've got plans for that, m'dear :) Thanks again!

Without further ado, Chapter 13! Enjoy! (see previous chapters for disclaimer...I've wasted enough space here!)

* * *

**Lover's Spats and Making Up**

"All firs' years over here!" Harry whipped around as he heard the announcement, and to his right saw Hagrid waving over the new Hogwarts students.

"Hagrid!" Harry shouted over the din of all the excited teenagers getting off the train. Hagrid turned to his right, saw Harry standing with Hermione, and smiled - though there was a little catch in his smile when he realized Ron wasn't with them. He thought it was a little odd but figured Ron must have just been late changing into his robes.

"I can't wait to watch the sorting ceremony this year," Hermione said excitedly as she watched all the younger students getting into the boats to cross the lake. "It seems like ages ago when we got sorted…speaking of that, where _is _Ron, Harry?"

"Uh, well…he got a little caught up in something when we left the compartment. I'm sure he'll be with us shortly." Harry, of course, was certain of no such thing after the words he and Ron had exchanged during their little trip down the corridor of the express, but he figured Ron usually came around in his own time - or with some help from Luna, as the case seemed to be lately. He smiled at his last thought and grabbed for Hermione's hand without thinking.

"Harry?" she questioned as she glanced around nervously. "What are you doing? I thought we said it would be best to be a little more gradual in letting people know about us."

Harry kept hold of her hand and then caught the other in his left, turned her around to face him, and kissed the tip of her nose. "It would be too hard," he stated simply. Hermione looked at him questioningly, so he elaborated. "We spent so much time keeping it a secret at the Burrow…I don't want to have to watch to see who's looking at us every time I want to kiss you or hold your hand."

"I see," she replied cheekily. "And the fact that Malfoy caught us snogging has nothing to do with your choice?"

Harry looked at her in amazement. "Actually, that thought never crossed my mind."

"Well, it should. Because I'm sure he'll waste no time in letting everyone know about you two."

Harry turned to face the owner of the new voice among their discussion, as Hermione was already faced that way. Ron was standing there shifting his weight from his right to his left foot every few seconds or so, looking extremely uncomfortable due to his argument with Harry, which Hermione still knew nothing about. It wasn't that Harry wanted to keep things from her, but he knew that telling her what the argument was about wouldn't help Hermione and Ron's already tenuous friendship.

"Ron, were you late going to change your robes _again_?" Hermione asked disbelievingly. "I thought after becoming a prefect you would have gotten some responsibility."

Harry closed his eyes, waiting for another blowout between his best friend and girlfriend. When it didn't come, he opened his left eye warily, then the right. Ron was fixedly staring at Luna, who was coming to join them in one of the carriages to Hogwarts.

"Hello, Ronald," she said while smiling at him. "Harry, Hermione - I hope you don't mind. Ronald has asked me to join you."

At this remark, Ron's face turned almost as red as it had been the night Hermione found out he had read her journal. "That is, uh…if it's alright with you two," he said sheepishly.

"Oh sure, _Ronald_," Hermione answered sweetly. "It's just fine with us, isn't it, Harry?" She shot him a wicked grin, unaware of the dynamic between the two boys.

"What? Oh sure, yeah. It's fine." Harry, in truth, was a little frightened of what the four of them in a carriage would amount to. He knew that while Hermione had new respect for Luna for going with them into the Department of Mysteries, she still thought Luna was a little…well, _off_. And as for him and Ron - that was a whole other story.

One difference in the carriage ride that all of them could see straightaway was that not just Harry and Luna, but all of them could see the thestral in front of the buggy they were in. Ron exclaimed, "Guess we weren't missing out on much, Hermione. Ugly buggers those thestrals, eh?"

"Well, they may not be much to look at, but remember how helpful they were last year," she said quietly, not really wanting to remind Harry of that unpleasant trip to the Ministry of Magic and Sirius.

"Actually, Ronald…I think they're quite beautiful when you get used to them," Luna interjected distractedly.

"Er - yeah, I guess they're not so bad, then," he replied uncertainly.

Harry snorted as he remembered Ron's accusation from earlier in the day. _What has having a girlfriend done to you? _Luna wasn't Ron's girlfriend (yet, Harry amended) but there certainly were a lot of changes coming about in him as well. He just couldn't seem to see them.

They rode in silence most of the way to the castle, with an occasional comment from one of the two girls. They didn't even seem to notice that Harry and Ron weren't speaking - or so Harry thought until Hermione had him alone.

* * *

About an hour after the sorting ceremony and the feast (which, thankfully, was less eventful than it had been in the past - due in large part, Harry suspected, to Malfoy being conspicuously absent from this years festivities), Hermione and Harry sat on one of the overstuffed couches in the Gryffindor common room in front of a roaring fire. However, what should have been a quiet, romantic setting was lost on the two of them.

"What's wrong, Harry?"

"Nothing."

Hermione knew that was his standard reply whenever something really was bothering him - also she had noticed that although Ron sat with them at dinner, the two boys were uncharacteristically quiet. "Why do you think you shouldn't ever talk about what's bothering you?" she asked, a little more angrily than she intended.

He felt his blood pressure rise a little bit. _Great_, he thought, _first from my best friend and now Hermione's going to start in on me, too. Must be my lucky day. _"I didn't realize I had to talk about every little thought I have, I guess," he replied.

"You don't, but it would be nice if you would talk to me - include me - for once, about what goes on in that head of yours!"

"You want me to include you?" Harry cried out. "You're the only bloody person I've talked to about…about Sirius. You're the only person I've talked to about that whole horrible day! Even in third year I told you things I never talked about with anyone else…what more do you want to know?"

Hermione looked at him, taken aback by his impassioned outburst. She began to feel faulty for not respecting his privacy and feelings like she had in the past. _If he wants to talk to me, he will, and there's no use in making him, _she remembered thinking, once upon a time. "Harry, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have -"

He looked around and noticed the stares coming from the curious Gryffindors that were settled around the room. He became well aware of the fact that this was neither the time nor place to discuss such personal matters. "Hermione, I really think I should just go upstairs and unpack or something before one of us says something we really regret. We need some time to cool down. Goodnight."

She stared in disbelief as he got up from their cozy spot on the couch and went up to the boys' dormitories. _Did we just have our first fight? _she asked herself, and then thought with regret, _He didn't even kiss me goodbye_. Not caring about the other students in the common room, who were now going back to their previous activities, she got up from her spot on the sofa and ran, tears threatening to fall all the while, to the girls' dormitories.

* * *

_If this is what having a girlfriend is like, you can count me out, _the angry voice in Harry's head spat out. In his heart, he knew that he still cared very deeply for Hermione and that she had just been trying to help him, but the furious part of his mind was the one that was still prevailing at that point.

"So, trouble's brewing already, eh Harry?"

Harry whipped around from the spot he had been pacing in for at least ten minutes and saw Ron standing in the doorway. Luckily, none of the other boys had made it up to the dormitory yet. _Probably because they think you're nutters again after that scene downstairs, _Harry thought glumly.

"What do you care?" he retorted and sank down onto his bed. He pulled the curtains around him hoping that Ron would get the hint and go away, but there was no such luck to be had - Ron came and threw the curtains back open instantly.

"Well, I care a great deal," Ron replied. "First of all, Hermione's mental enough without you adding to it." Seeing the enraged look on Harry's face, he realized his joke fell flat and added, "Not to mention you two are my best mates, and all. I know it's been difficult lately, but it was bound to get this way sooner or later. We're growing up."

Harry, not knowing for sure but assuming this was a pearl of wisdom actually coming from Luna _through _Ron, and not from Ron himself, sighed. "I know," he said sadly.

"Listen mate, I'm not too sure what happened before, but I came into the common room and Hermione ran out crying. I'm assuming it had something to do with the two of you since you're not with her and you're in quite a bad mood?"

Harry nodded guiltily and started playing with a loose thread on his blanket.

Ron rolled his eyes. "And people think I'm the daft one," he muttered. "Alright then," he said in a more audible tone of voice, "what seems to be the trouble now?"

"I…I don't even know, actually. Well, she asked me what was wrong with me, and somehow that escalated into a huge argument…and then I kind of ran out on her."

"You do kind of keep people out, Harry," Ron replied. "She probably just thought it would help you to talk about some things."

Harry felt the anger building up inside him again. "Why does everyone want to know my bloody business? Fine, you want to know why I didn't tell her? I've talked to her about _plenty _of things I haven't told anyone else, but I didn't want to tell her about our fight earlier, which was what was bothering me! I knew she would want to know what it was about, which was _her _in case you don't remember correctly…and why are you trying to get us back on good terms, since you don't like what she's done to me, apparently?"

"Well, ah…see, the thing of it is…I kind of had a talk with -"

"Let me guess," Harry interjected, "Luna?"

"Yeah, actually," Ron answered, missing the irony in the situation. "Anyway, she sort of filled me in on why you might feel the way you do and act the way you do. I guess I never thought that loving you might put Hermione in danger…more danger than she was in when she was just your friend."

"Counting on Luna for a lot of your realizations these days, aren't you, _Ronald_?" Harry was still a little miffed, but he couldn't resist the easy shot.

The tips of Ron's nose and ears turned verypink and he turned away and mumbled something incoherent.

"Anyways, who said anything about Hermione _loving _me?" Harry asked. "We're together, but that doesn't really mean that she feels all that strongly."

"Are you completely _mad_?" Ron hissed. "Have you noticed the way she looks at you? Or the way you look at her, for that matter? I know you aren't that blind, Harry. I also think that's why you're trying not to get too close. I heard what Malfoy said too, you know."

Harry exhaled deeply. He knew Ron was right…again. He was going to have to watch Ron if he didn't stop hanging around Luna - his perceptiveness was growing by the day.

"Alright, so maybe I'm a little…scared of what could happen to her," Harry allowed. It was easier than he thought it would be to talk about it. "But how would you feel, Ron? How would you feel to know that simply caring for Luna too much would put her in the greatest danger of her life?"

It was the first time Harry had spoken seriously to Ron about his fancying Luna, and Ron didn't object to it as he had when Harry had said something about it in jest on the train. "Well, I would say that she has feelings of her own - and getting back to you and Hermione, if it's that important to you, she should know about it. She has the right to decide if loving you is worth the risk…and I think we both know what she would decide."

"I know that," Harry choked out in reply. "But what if something _does _happen to her? What if Malfoy isn't simply making things up?"

Ron was alarmed to see that Harry had tears running down his face. He rarely ever had seen Harry cry, so he knew this must have been a pressing matter for a long while now, maybe even perhaps before Malfoy had said anything at all.

"Harry, mate, we've all been through lots of things…and somehow you always come out on top. I think if Hermione's safety was really threatened, you would do what you had to to make sure she was kept from harm. I also think she knows that." With that, Ron laid a comforting hand on Harry's shoulder and left the room.

* * *

After Ron had left the room, Harry sat for awhile mulling over their conversation. It was really starting to seem as though Ron was good for something other than games of quidditch and wizard's chess lately. The other boys had slowly but surely come up to the dormitories to go to sleep. Harry knew he should, too, but couldn't seem to do so when he knew Hermione was still hurting. He decided to go look for her - he couldn't believe she would be sleeping, either.

He walked down the steps to the common room, raking a hand through his untidy hair. He stopped short when he saw Hermione curled up in a comfortable looking chair with her head in her arms. He stepped over towards the chair silently and laid an uncertain hand on her head, stroking her hair back.

As she jolted upright he saw the mixture of emotions on her face. At first she looked overjoyed to see him, then he saw anger, and lastly, the lingering emotion seemed to be sorrow. "What are you doing down here?" she asked, looking down towards the floor.

"I…I came to tell you what was bothering me." He kneeled down in front of her and lifted her chin up so he could look into her light brown eyes. She didn't pull away, which he took to be a good sign, so he continued. "You have the right to know why I acted the way I did about it."

"No, if you didn't want to talk, I shouldn't have forced it on you," she said softly. "I know how difficult your life has been, especially recently…I don't want to add to the trouble."

His heart started to pound…was she going to break up with him? He hastened to explain. "You aren't part of the trouble, 'Mione. Not at all, so don't think that, please. It's just…well, let's just say that Ron has helped me understand something, and that in turn has made me think more seriously about other things."

He paused to see how she was reacting, but so far her face was emotionless. He wasn't sure what to do, so he kept talking. "I realized that my caring for you could cause problems…it could endanger your safety. I don't want you to get hurt, Hermione. I don't know what I would do if something happened to you, especially if it was because of me."

As Hermione began to understand what he was so upset about, her anger completely dissipated. "Oh, Harry…don't you think I've thought about all this before? I knew what I was getting into and I'm still here. I'd rather be with you and run the risk than miss out on having you in my life. I…I…" She fumbled around, at a loss for words, her face becoming more flushed by the minute.

Harry smiled as he comprehended what she was trying to say. He swept her out of the chair and held her as tightly as he could. He breathed in her delicate scent and swore he would never let go of her as he kissed her fervently. " 'Mione, don't you know? I love you, too."


End file.
